Jim Spencer

Jim Spencer works in the Star Tribune's Washington, D.C., bureau. He covers the intersection of Minnesota businesses and industry with national politics, legislation and regulation. Spencer has more than three decades' experience as a news reporter, columnist, feature writer and sports writer.

Howard Root said he would rather step away from the Maple Grove-based business he co-founded and ran for 20 years than face the risks that he says come from running a publicly traded medical device company.

The trove of personal data that Pokemon Go and other popular smartphone apps obtain and keep on users has led privacy advocates to warn that players risk having personal details exploited commercially and possibly criminally.

Across the country, in the aftermath of the extraordinary attack on the DNC computers, cyber security experts are newly assessing the vulnerability of the nation's voting system. Some say the technological weaknesses are significant enough to disrupt the presidential election.

Minnesota's Republican House members voted to prevent debate on a bill to ban firearms sales to suspected terrorists. Their reluctance is not just predictable, it is probably pragmatic politics, experts said.

The U.S. Treasury Department has rejected the deep retirement cuts sought by the ailing Teamsters Central States Pension Fund. The decision is a relief to thousands of retirees, who stood to see pension checks slashed.